Methods and systems for an augmented film crew using purpose

ABSTRACT

Systems and processes associated with an augmented film crew. For example, a computer-implemented method may include receiving, at a display of a user media device, an indication that a user of the user media device intends to generate a user video in an environment; receiving, at the display, an input indicating a user preference associated with the user video; generating, by the user media device, data associated with the environment using a sensor of the user media device; determining, by the user media device, a purpose for the user video using the user preference and the data associated with the environment, wherein the purpose is chosen from a predetermined set of purposes; detecting an additional media device that is located in the environment, wherein the additional media device is associated with the user or the user media device; determining pre-production assignments for the user video using the purpose and the additional media device, wherein the pre-production assignments indicate one or more characteristics of the scene for the user video in the environment; generating, using the user media device, a first video stream of the scene in the environment using the pre-production assignments; receiving, from the additional media device, a second video stream of the scene; and generating, by the user media device, the user video using the first video stream or the second video streams. The above steps may be implemented as instructions stored in a computer-readable medium, computer program product, or device such as a television receiver, or in other types of embodiments.

TECHNICAL FILED

The present disclosure relates to capturing live action video data usingan augmented film crew. More specifically, the present technology isdirected to a system that assists a user in creating high quality videousing data collected and analyzed from an environment.

BACKGROUND

The use of media data such as video data has increased rapidly. Mediadata is used for various purposes, including to create movies, recordand view sports events, for home security, to capture personal andfamily events, to sell real estate, for streaming, among others. Videobecomes even more flexible and useful when data associated with theenvironment in which the video is shot is captured, analyzed, and usedto assist a user in generating the video.

SUMMARY

Embodiments of the present technology include systems and processesassociated with an augmented film crew. For example, acomputer-implemented method may include receiving, at a display of auser media device, an indication that a user of the user media deviceintends to generate a user video in an environment; receiving, at thedisplay, an input indicating a user preference associated with the uservideo; generating, by the user media device, data associated with theenvironment using a sensor of the user media device; determining, by theuser media device, a purpose for the user video using the userpreference and the data associated with the environment, wherein thepurpose is chosen from a predetermined set of purposes; detecting anadditional media device that is located in the environment, wherein theadditional media device is associated with the user or the user mediadevice; determining pre-production assignments for the user video usingthe purpose and the additional media device, wherein the pre-productionassignments indicate one or more characteristics of the scene for theuser video in the environment; generating, using the user media device,a first video stream of the scene in the environment using thepre-production assignments; receiving, from the additional media device,a second video stream of the scene; and generating, by the user mediadevice, the user video using the first video stream or the second videostreams. The above steps may be implemented as instructions stored in acomputer-readable medium, computer program product, or device such as atelevision receiver, or in other types of embodiments.

In another example embodiment, a computer-implemented method may includereceiving, at a display of a user media device, an indication that auser of the media device intends to generate a user video in anenvironment; generating, by the user media device, data associated withthe environment using a sensor of the user media device; determining, bythe user media device, a purpose for the user video using the dataassociated with the environment; presenting, at the display, a set ofscreenplays for the user video, wherein the set of screenplays isdetermined based on the duration, the purpose, and the data associatedwith the environment; receiving, at the display, an input from the userindicating a selected screenplay from the set of screenplays, whereinthe selected screenplay is associated with a set of storyboards;displaying, at the user media device, a first storyboard of the set ofstoryboards, wherein the first storyboard is overlaid onto a user videostream generated by the user media device; receiving, at the user mediadevice, an additional video stream generated by an additional networkdevice; and generating, by the user media device, the user video usingthe user video stream or the additional video stream. The above stepsmay be implemented as instructions stored in a computer-readable medium,computer program product, or device such as a television receiver, or inother types of embodiments.

In another example embodiment, a computer-implemented method may includegenerating, by a user media device, an environment video streamassociated with a scene in an environment, wherein the environment videostream is generated using a first sensor of the user media device;receiving, at the user media device, an additional video streamgenerated by an additional network device; generating the user videousing the environment video stream or the additional video stream;generating a user video stream, wherein the user video stream isgenerated using a second sensor of the user media device; determining asweet spot of the user video stream, wherein the sweet spot is a portionof the user video stream that indicates an important event in the scenebased on a physical appearance, movement, or audible sound of the user;identifying a portion of the user video associated with the sweet spotof the user video stream; and generating an updated user video using theenvironment video stream or the additional video stream, and the uservideo stream. The above steps may be implemented as instructions storedin a computer-readable medium, computer program product, or device suchas a television receiver, or in other types of embodiments.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 illustrates a block diagram of the media broadcasting system inaccordance with one embodiment of the invention, according toembodiments of the present technology.

FIG. 2 illustrates a block diagram of an example media processing systemfor capturing and mixing multiple media streams into an output mediastream.

FIG. 3 illustrates a block diagram of an example camera for the mediasystem of FIG. 2.

FIG. 4 illustrates a block diagram of an example operator console forthe media processing system of FIG. 2.

FIG. 5 illustrates a block diagram of an example media studio for themedia processing system of FIG. 2.

FIG. 6 illustrates a block and flow diagram showing communicationbetween media devices and an operator console via a media studio,according to embodiments of the present technology.

FIG. 7 illustrates an environment including an operator console and anentertainment venue, according to embodiments of the present technology.

FIG. 8 illustrates a set of media devices communicating with each otherin an environment, according to embodiments of the present technology.

FIG. 9 illustrates an environment including an entertainment venue, anoperator console, and media devices capturing data from the environmentas part of a media processing system, according to embodiments of thepresent technology.

FIG. 10 illustrates screenshots of example video streams from mediadevices and a screenshot of a display or user interface associated withan operator console, according to embodiments of the present technology.

FIG. 11 illustrates a transition of screenshots from an operator consoleof the media processing system, according to embodiments of the presenttechnology.

FIG. 12 illustrates a media processing system in an environmentincluding an operator console configured to determine a sweet spot of auser content item, according to embodiments of the present technology.

FIG. 13 illustrates a screenshot of a display of an operator console ofthe media processing system, according to embodiments of the presenttechnology.

FIG. 14 includes a flow chart illustrating an example process associatedwith an augmented film crew, according to embodiments of the presenttechnology.

FIG. 15 includes a flow chart illustrating an example process associatedwith an augmented film crew, according to embodiments of the presenttechnology.

FIG. 16 includes a flow chart illustrating an example process associatedwith an augmented film crew, according to embodiments of the presenttechnology.

In the appended figures, similar components and/or features may have thesame numerical reference label. Further, various components of the sametype may be distinguished by following the reference label by a letterthat distinguishes among the similar components and/or features. If onlythe first numerical reference label is used in the specification, thedescription is applicable to any one of the similar components and/orfeatures having the same first numerical reference label irrespective ofthe letter suffix.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The present disclosure relates to capturing live action video data. Morespecifically, the present technology is directed to facilitating thegeneration of professional videos using an augmented film crew on amedia device.

The present disclosure is directed to a media studio and processingsystem that allows a user to capture video or other types of media dataassociated with live events from multiple different angles or locations.The media studio allows for the user to preview multiple media inputitems (e.g., simultaneously on a display), generating a media outputitem based on the multiple media input items, sharing the media outputitem, and/or storing the media output item for future viewing. All ofthese actions may be taken using a remote operator consolecommunicatively connected to the media studio. The media studio may beprogrammed to generate recommendations for the media output item and/orgenerate the media output item directly based on predetermined rules.

The media studio may receive data from data collectors (e.g., one ormore sensors, such as video capturing devices) mounted on or in a mediadevice (e.g., a camera, smart phone, tablet, other mobile device, etc.).The data may be received directly from the data collectors, orindirectly, for example via metadata associated with the media inputitems. The selection of media input items for inclusion in the mediaoutput item may be based in part on the data from the data collectors oranalysis of that data.

In one example, the media studio may be located in an environment inwhich a user wants to capture video data in order to generate aprofessional video. Media devices may be placed at different locationsor angles and capture data, via their data collectors, associated withthe environment. The sporting event may include various other types ofdata associated with it other than video data of the environment itself,such as data associated with people (i.e., potential actors),temperature, objects (i.e., props), among other data. This data may beused as part of, and to enhance, a final product of professional video,which may be made up of video data collected from the different videocapturing devices in the environment. The system may determine importantcharacteristics of a content item and a user's intent for the contentitem even before the content item is created. For example, the systemmay help determine a purpose of the content item, characters,screenplay, storyboards, and other information for the content item,etc. The system may also assist the user with pre-production steps andsettings, and assist with filming using storyboards and otherinformation. The system may also automatically determine a sweet spot ofa content item. Furthermore, the system may also collect data over timeabout a user, the user's content items, the environments and locationsthe user uses, the characters and other people associated with the userand the user's content items, feedback about the content items, and avariety of other information that may cause the system to become smarterover time, and to help the user create better content items over time.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of the media broadcasting system in accordancewith one embodiment of the invention, according to embodiments of thepresent technology. As illustrated, a personal capture and broadcastdevice 100 is configured to generate video or receive an input videosignal from a A/V source device 120. For example, any component ordevice having digital or analog A/V outputs can be connected to thepersonal broadcast device 100. For example, the A/V output may be partof a television receiver or other similar device. Personal broadcastdevice 100 may also receive such input video signal wirelessly. Uponreceiving the video and/or audio, the personal broadcaster digitizes,encodes, and streams the digitally compressed media to the gateway 110.The gateway 110 may comprise one or more separate devices, including arouter (e.g., wireless), a switch or hub, and/or an analog, cable orother type of broadband modem, or the gateway 110 may comprise a singledevice that encompasses one or more of these functions.

The gateway 110 may be coupled to a local area network (LAN) 140 thatcouples several computing devices in a user's home. According to knowntechniques, any number of local clients 150 may be able to communicatewith the gateway 110. In this way, created by the media broadcast device100 may be routed to any of these local clients 150 by way of the localnetwork 140, either through the gateway or directly. Personal broadcastdevice 100 may also be connected to the LAN directly or through anothermechanism other than gateway 110. The local area network 140 can bewired or wireless, as the present technology is not limited to anyparticular network technology or configuration. The local clients 140can be any number of device types, including but not limited to desktopand notebook PCs, mobile devices (e.g., smartphones, tablets, etc.),embedded clients built expressly for the purposes of decoding thestreams of the personal broadcaster, and other devices capable ofreceiving and/or playing a media stream over a network.

The media streams created by the personal broadcast device 100 may alsobe received by remote clients 170 from a remote network 160. The remotenetwork 160 may comprise any suitable networking technology, includingbut not limited to wide area mobile networks, WiFi, and other publicbroadband access locations, other LANs (such as at work, school, or afriend's home), and direct connections to other Internet serviceproviders. As with the local clients 150, the remote clients 170 mayinclude any number of device types, but not limited to desktop andnotebook PCs, mobile devices (e.g., smartphones, tablets, etc.),embedded clients built expressly for the purposes of decoding thestreams of the personal broadcaster, and other devices capable ofreceiving and/or playing a media stream over a network. In oneembodiment, the local clients 150 and/or the remote clients 170 executea client software application that includes a user interface forrequesting content from the broadcast device 100 and for viewing thatcontent. In another embodiment, the client functionality is provided bya website and is accessible by the local clients 150 and/or the remoteclients 170 via a browser.

In another embodiment, personal capture device 100 may not receive aninput video signal from another device, such as A/V source device(s)120, but instead may generate video content on its own. For example,personal capture device 100 may be or include a video camera to capturevideo. For example, personal capture device 100 may be a smartphone orother mobile device that includes a video camera, a processor, and astorage device to capture, process, and save, respectively, a video. Inanother example, personal capture device 100 may capture video andimmediately, in real time, output the video. For example, personalcapture device 100 may transmit, via a WiFi, 4G, or other wirelessmedium, the video so that the video may be broadcast using a videobroadcasting or streaming service. The streaming video may also be videothat was captured and saved at a previous time, so not in real time. Asnoted above, personal capture and broadcast device 100 may be connectedto a LAN, which may have other devices connected to it. Using such astructure, multiple personal capture and broadcast devices may capturevideo and save, transmit, and/or stream video simultaneously, and adevice may be used to combine, view, or otherwise manipulate the videofeeds at once.

FIG. 2 illustrates a block diagram of an example media processing systemfor capturing and mixing multiple media streams into an output mediastream, according to embodiments of the present technology. As shown inFIG. 2, the media processing system 210 may include a media studio 212,one or more media devices 16 (e.g., mobile device with media capturingsensor), and one or more data collectors 217. The one or more mediadevices 216 include the operator console 218, and may further includeone or more cameras 220, one or more viewers 222, and one or more mediastorage devices 223. The media devices 216 and the data collectors 217may be remote or local to the media studio 212 and may be coupled to themedia studio 212 via at least one of the network 214 and a direct wiredor wireless connection 282.

The media processing system 210 may include a mobile media studio 212,which can receive media input data from one or more media devices 216.The media input data may be received from the one or more media devices216 via one or more wired and/or wireless networks 214 and one or morewired and/or wireless direct connections. Receiving media data mayinclude receiving media data sent from a media device 216 (e.g., acamera 220) or retrieving data (e.g., from a storage device 223).Additionally, the media studio 212 may receive data from one or moredata collectors 217. The data collectors 217 may include a variety ofsensors that may provide data related to a recording event. The datacollectors 217 may include one or more biometric sensors such as heartrate monitors, blood pressure monitors, etc.; movement sensors such asaccelerometers, gyroscopes, etc.; location sensors such as globalpositioning systems, RFID tags, etc.; environmental sensors such asbarometers, thermometers, light sensors, etc.; and other types ofsensors which may provide data related to a recording event. The datacollectors 217 may further include systems such as global positioningsystems (GPS), weather tracking systems, etc.

As used herein, the recording event may refer to the actual event beingrecorded, for example, a football game or company picnic, including theenvironment, participants, camera 220 operators, media studio 212operators, operator console 218 operators, viewers, audience, etc.related to the event being recorded. Further, the data collectors 217may provide data, or may be included in one or more of the media devices216, and provide data via, for example, a computing device in the mediadevice 216.

The media studio 212 can be controlled by, and receive media input datafrom, an operator console 218, which may be remote to the media studio212. The media studio 212 further can generate media output data andprovide the media output data to media devices 216 (e.g., a viewer 222).The media processing system 210 allows a user to produce media outputdata at a location where the recording, or a portion of the recording,is taking place. Controlling the media studio 212 via a remote operatorconsole 218 provides the user the freedom to move about the recordinglocation while maintaining oversight and control over the productionprocess.

A server 228 may also be communicatively coupled to the media studio212, the media devices 216, and/or the data collectors 217 via thenetwork 214. Additionally, the media processing system 210 may include amonitor 230, which may include a display device, communicatively coupledto the media studio 212.

A variety of types of data may be used by the media studio. For example,the data may include biometric data (e.g., heart rate, blood pressure,etc.) associated with a user of a camera and which may be used, e.g., todetermine an excitement level of the user. As another example, the datamay be data indicative of the quality of a media input item such assteadiness of a camera, contrast of an image, etc. Still further, thedata may include location data or movement data associated with anobject or participant in the event to be recorded (e.g., a player in asports event, a ball being used in a sports event, etc.). Still further,the data may include global positioning data, weather data, lightconditions, etc. related to the recording environment. Other types ofdata, collected from sensors, or, e.g., from other computing devices,may also be used for selecting the content for and/or generating themedia output item.

The media studio 212 can receive multiple media input itemssimultaneously or substantially simultaneously, and can combine theminto an aggregated media item for viewing via the operator console 218.An “aggregated media item,” as that term is used herein, is a set of twoor more of the media input items, arranged to be displayed at the sametime on a user display (e.g., a touchscreen or other screen withprojected or overlaid images). The media input items may be arrangedsuch that they appear side by side, in rows, or in a picture-in-pictureformat within the user display. In addition, the aggregated media itemmay include, for example, a graphical user interface that is displayedon the user display and accepts user inputs. As described below, themedia studio 212 may compress the aggregated media item prior toproviding it to the operator console 218.

The media input items may be visual and/or audio data such as videoscaptured by a video camera or sounds captured by a microphone. Themicrophone may be integrated in a media device 216 or another devicewithin media processing system 10, or may be a standalone media device216 which can independently communicate with the media studio 212. Themedia input items may include, for example, streamed data or static datasuch as single digital photographs. The media studio 212 further canreceive commands from the operator console 218, and can generate a mediaoutput item according to the received commands. The media output itemmay include data from one or more of the media input items.

As an example, the media studio 212 may receive four media input items,each of the four media input items received from a different mediadevice 216. The media studio 212 may generate an aggregated media itemincluding each of the four media input items, and transmit theaggregated media item to the operator console 218. A user of theoperator console 218 may select, via a user interface, one of the fourviews in the aggregated media item to be included in the media outputitem. Based on a command received from the operator console 218, themedia studio 212 may generate the media output item that includes theselected media input item. The media output item may be transmitted viaa network 214 to be shared with viewers (e.g., streamed on an onlinestreaming platform), or stored in a storage device 223. In one exampleembodiment, media studio 12 may be capable of only receiving andprocessing four media input items at a time. For example, media studio12 may only include four video feeds or streams due to, for example, alimited number of inputs on media studio 12 or a limited amount ofbandwidth utilization on the network that connects media studio 12 tomedia devices 16.

In addition to selecting one or more media input items to be included inthe media output item, the media studio 212 may perform various mediaprocessing operations. The media processing operations may be performedbased on commands received from the operator console. A non-limitinglist of example processing operations that may be performed by the mediastudio 212 includes scaling, mixing, morphing, compositing, addingoverlays (audio and/or video), among others. In addition, the mediastudio may perform operations such as object tracking, imagestabilization, etc. The operation of the media studio 212 will bediscussed in greater detail below.

The media studio 212 may further be programmed to recommend (e.g., tothe operator console 218) media input items to be included in a mediaoutput item and/or to generate a media output item based on one or morepredetermined rules. The predetermined rules may be, for example,inputted by a user. Alternatively or in addition, the predeterminedrules may be dynamically learned over time by collecting and analyzinghistorical data of previous operator choices. For example, a processorincluded in the media studio 212 may be programmed to learn userpreferences based on historical/previous choices and may include ahardware learning mechanism such as a neural network.

Communications between the media studio 212 and the media devices 216and data collectors 217 (collectively, “networked devices” 216, 217) mayoccur via the network 214 and/or via one or more of direct connections282 (e.g., wired and/or wireless connections, such as, for example,Bluetooth, IEEE 802.11, etc.). In general, the network 214 representsone or more mechanisms for delivering media content between the mediastudio 212 and the networked devices 216, 217. Accordingly, the network214 may be one or more of various wired or wireless communicationmechanisms, including any desired combination of wired (e.g., cable andfiber) and/or wireless (e.g., cellular, wireless, satellite, microwave,and radio frequency) communication mechanisms and any desired networktopology (or topologies when multiple communication mechanisms areutilized). Example communication networks include wireless communicationnetworks, local area networks (LAN) 224 such as a WiFi network orEthernet, and/or wide area networks (WAN) 226 such as the Internet, etc.

In addition to the one or more networks 214, one or more wired orwireless direct connections 282 may be used to connect the media studio212 to the media devices 216 or other devices in the media processingsystem 210. Direct connections may include, e.g., Bluetooth, UniversalSerial Bus (USB), high-definition multimedia interfaces (HDMI), customserial interfaces, etc. For example, one or more high-definitionmultimedia interfaces (HDMI) may be used to transfer data between amedia device 216 and the media studio 212, or from the media studio 212to a computer or television monitor or other display 230. The HDMI is awell-known proprietary audio/video interface for transferringuncompressed video data and compressed or uncompressed digital audiodata from a HDMI-compliant source device, such as the media device 216,to a digital media processing device such as the media studio 212 or tothe compatible computer monitor (e.g., a monitor 230).

The server 228 may be communicatively coupled to the media studio 212,the media devices 216, and/or the data collectors 217 via the network214. The server 228 may include a communications circuit forcommunicating via the network 214, and may further include a memory andone or more processors configured to execute programs (i.e., sets ofcomputer-executable instructions) stored in memory. The server 228 may,for example, receive media output items and store the media output itemsfor future use.

Media content, such as the media input items, media output items, and/ormultiview media items, may generally be delivered via the network 214 ina digital format (e.g., as compressed audio and/or video data) and mayinclude media data and metadata. For example, MPEG refers to a set ofstandards generally promulgated by the International StandardsOrganization/International Electrical Commission Moving Picture ExpertsGroup (MPEG). H.264 refers to a standard promulgated by theInternational Telecommunications Union (ITU).

Accordingly, by way of example and not limitation, media content may beprovided in a format such as the MPEG-1, MPEG-2, or the H.264/MPEG-4Advanced Video Coding standards (AVC) (H.264 and MPEG-4 at present beingconsistent), or according to some other standard or standards. Forexample, media content could be audio data formatted according tostandards such as MPEG-2 Audio Layer III (MP3), Advanced Audio Coding(AAC), etc. Further, the foregoing standards generally provide forincluding metadata.

As noted, media devices 216 may include the viewer 222 may be used todisplay media output data received from the media studio 212, and mayinclude a display such as a liquid crystal display (LCD) or plasmadisplay. The media data may be received, for example, via the network214 or via the direct connection 282. Examples of the viewer 222 includemobile devices such as mobile phones, tablets, and laptops and mayfurther include devices such as digital televisions. The viewer 222 mayreceive, e.g., Full HD data, providing a resolution of 1920 by 1080.Data formats with other resolutions may also be used.

As further noted, media devices 216 may also include a storage device223. Storage device 223 may store media data and provide an interface toallow the media studio 212 to access the data via the network 214 or viathe direct connection 282. The media storage device may include one ormore types of data storage such as read only memory (ROM), random accessmemory (RAM), flash memory, electrically programmable memory (EPROM),electrically programmable and erasable memory (EEPROM), embeddedMultiMediaCard (eMNIC), a hard drive, etc. Further, the media storagedevice 223 may include a processor, programmed to receive commands fromthe media studio 212. The processor may be further programmed, based onthe commands, to retrieve media data items from data storage and sendthe media data items to the media studio 212.

Communications between the media studio 212 and the viewers 222/storagedevice 223 may be performed via the network 214. Additionally oralternatively, communications may be performed via the direct connection282. For example, the storage device 223 may be connected to the mediastudio 212 via a Universal Serial Bus (USB) port, or other wired orwireless interface.

FIG. 3 illustrates a block diagram of an example camera for the mediasystem of FIG. 2, according to embodiments of the present technology.The camera 320 may include a memory 350 and a processor 351, the memory350 storing program code (i.e., computer-executable instructions)executable by the processor 351. The memory 350 may include videobuffers which may be used for replays, applying video audio filters,and/or compressing and decompressing media data, among others. Theprocessor 351 may be communicatively coupled to a user interface 352, amedia receiver 354, a communications circuit 356, and/or data collectors317. The camera 320 may capture media data (i.e., visual and sound datasuch as photographs and videos) and may transmit the media data via, forexample, the network 214, to the media studio 212. Examples of a camera320 include portable devices such as smartphones, tablets, laptops,digital cameras, security cameras, traffic cams, cameras transported byairborne drones, among others.

The media receiver 354 may include one or more data receiving elementsfor receiving media data. The collected media data may include visualdata and/or audio data. The media receiver 354 may include, for example,one or more microphones for receiving sound data and CMOS or CCD imagesensors for receiving image data.

The user interface 352 may be communicatively coupled to the processor351 and may include one or more input devices such as a microphone,buttons, a touchscreen display, a mouse, a keyboard, agesture-recognition device, switches, etc., for receiving input from theuser. The user interface 352 may further include one or more outputdevices such as a display, lamps, speakers, etc. for communicatinginformation to the user.

The data collectors 317, which may be in addition to the data collectors317 shown in FIG. 2, may be used to determine, for example, operatingconditions of the camera 320. Data collectors 317 may includeaccelerometers, gyroscopes, light meters, among others. The datacollectors 317 may be used to measure, for example, movement of thecamera 320 (shaking, tracking of an object), the direction the camera320 is pointing, the light conditions under which the camera 320 isoperating, etc. The data collectors 317 may provide data to theprocessor 351, which may, for example, send the data to the media studio212 for additional processing. The data sent to the media studio 212 maybe raw data, i.e., representative of data coming directly from sensors.

The camera 320 may receive data from, for example, the media studio 212.The camera 320 may also provide data to a user of camera 320 via, forexample, the user interface 352. For example, the media studio 212 maydetermine, based on data received from the camera 320, that there is aproblem with camera 320. For example, media studio 212 may determinethat the camera 320 is shaking too much. Media studio 212 may make thisdetermination by comparing received media input to a predetermined ordynamically determined (e.g., based on historical data collected overtime) threshold. The media studio 312 may send this data to the camera320, which may display the information on the user interface 352.

FIG. 4 illustrates a block diagram of an example operator console forthe media processing system of FIG. 2, according to embodiments of thepresent technology. The operator console 418 may be used to control theoperation of the media studio 212. As shown in FIG. 4, the operatorconsole 418 may include a processor 441 and/or a memory 440 (e.g., tostore program code, i.e., computer-executable instructions executable bythe processor 441). The processor 441 and/or memory 440 may becommunicatively coupled to a user interface 442, a media receiver 444, acommunications circuit 446, and/or data collectors 417.

The operator console 418 may include a user interface 442 may becommunicatively coupled to the processor 441 and the user interface 442may include one or more input devices such as a microphone, buttons, atouchscreen display, a mouse, a keyboard, a gesture-recognition device,switches, etc. for receiving input from the user. The user interface 442may further include one or more output devices such as a display, lamps,speakers, etc. for communicating information to the user. All, or aportion of, the user interface 442 may be physically separate from theoperator console 418. For example, the operator console 418 may be atablet computer which projects its output to another screen (e.g.,air-play) while the operator continues to control the media studio 212from the tablet computer.

In addition to commands related to selecting media input items fordisplay in the media output item, commands from the operator console 418may include instructions to perform operations such as scaling, mixing,morphing, compositing, adding overlays, etc. Further, commands from theoperator console 418 may include instructions to perform operations suchas object tracking, image stabilization, etc.

The operator console 218 may include one or more media receivers 444. Amedia receiver 444 may be, for example, a digital camera, which mayreceive media data. A media receiver 444 may include, for example, aCMOS or CCD image processor for receiving visual data and a microphonefor receiving audio data. The media data may include visual data such astill photographs and video recordings and may further include audiodata such as a sound recording or soundtrack. The media receiver 444may, for example, output the media data to the processor 441.

The operator console 218 may include a communications circuit 346 thatis communicatively coupled to the processor 441 and/or is configured tocommunicate with the media studio 212 via, for example, the network 214and/or through the direct connections 282. The communications circuit446 may include a radio frequency (RF) transceiver for WiFicommunications (typically 2.4 GHz or 5 GHz bands). The RF transceivermay communicate, for example, directly with a RF receiver included inthe media studio 212. Additionally or alternatively, the communicationscircuit 446 may include, e.g., an Ethernet interface, a Universal SerialBus (USB) interface, a Bluetooth transceiver, a high-definitionmultimedia interface (HDMI), etc. Alternatively, the communicationscircuit 446 may communicate with the media studio 212 indirectly (e.g.,via an intermediate device). For example, the communications circuit 446may communicate with a hotspot.

The operator console 418 may include a processor 441. Processor 441 ofthe operator console 418 may perform processing of the data it receivesfrom other parts of the operator console 218 (processor 441 may becommunicatively coupled to each of the user interface 42, the datacollector 444, the communications circuits 446, and the data collectors417) or other media devices 216. For example, the processor 441 maydetermine values such an excitement level, a quality level, etc. of thedata and provide the determined values to the media studio 212. The datamay be dynamic data which indicates the determined values as a functionof time. Further, the operator console 418 processor 441 may, e.g.,recognize objects within the media input item, perform audio filtering,and perform other media processing operations, and provide the resultsof these operations to the media studio 212.

The processor 441 may be programmed to control the operation of themedia studio 212 based on inputs received from a user via the userinterface 442. More specifically, the processor 441 may be programmed toreceive a media content item (for example, an aggregated media itemincluding one or more views from one or more cameras 220) and to displaythe aggregated media item via the user interface 442. The processor 441may be further programmed to receive input from the user via the userinterface 442. For example, the user may view the aggregated media itemand select one of the views to be included in a media output itemgenerated by the media studio 212. The processor 441 may send a commandto the media studio 212 to include the selected view in the media outputitem.

FIG. 5 illustrates a block diagram of an example media studio for themedia processing system of FIG. 2, according to embodiments of thepresent technology. The media studio 212 may include a processor 562 andan internal memory 560 (which, for example, may store program code,i.e., computer-executable instructions, executable by the processor562). The processor 562 and/or internal memory 560 may becommunicatively coupled to a user interface 564, a network interface566, an auxiliary interface 568, and data collectors 517.

The internal memory 560 may include, for example, read only memory(ROM), random access memory (RAM), flash memory, electricallyprogrammable memory (EPROM), electrically programmable and erasablememory (EEPROM), embedded MultiMediaCard (eMMC), a hard drive, amongothers, and may be used to store programs executable by the processor562, as well as to store, for example, data representing inputs from theuser, instructions received from the operator console 218, media datareceived from a remote media device 216, and/or media metadata, datacollected by data collectors 517.

The user interface 564 may be communicatively coupled to the processor562 and may include one or more output devices such as a display, lamps,speakers, etc. for communicating information to the user, such as analarm or other notification. The user interface 564 may further includeone or more input devices such as buttons, a microphone, a touchscreendisplay, a mouse, a keyboard, a gesture-recognition device, switches,etc. for receiving input from the user.

The network interface 566 may include one or more interfaces to thenetwork 14. For example, the network interface 566 may include ahotspot, such as is known, for WiFi communications. The hotspot mayinclude a router. The router may include a radio frequency (RF)transceiver for WiFi communications (typically 2.4 GHz or 5 GHz bands)and may receive multiple transmissions substantially simultaneously. Therouter may connect the processor 562 with media devices 216, such asthose shown in FIG. 2. The router and an Internet client may also beused in combination to provide Internet access for media devices 216.Additionally, the network interface 566 may include a link to anInternet Service Provider (ISP). The link may be a mechanism forconnecting to and communicating with the Internet Service Provider, suchas, for example, satellite communications or a cable network. The linkmay include a transceiver and/or antenna for satellite communications(such as those, for example, in the Ka band, 218.3-30 GHz). The link tothe ISP may receive, via the network 214, Internet protocol (IP)communications from, for example, media devices 216 and data collectors517.

The auxiliary interface 568 may include one or more wired or wirelessinterface circuits which may be used, for example, to connect to one ormore media devices 216. The auxiliary interface 568 may include auniversal serial bus (USB) interface circuit to communicate withexternal USB devices, for example, a memory stick or memory back-updevice. As another example, the auxiliary interface 568 may include aMicroSD interface, as is known, to store data on and retrieve data froma MicroSD data card. Further, the auxiliary interface 568 may include,for example, a Bluetooth interface for wireless connection to a mediadevice 216. The auxiliary interface 568 may also be used to connect todata collectors 517.

Processor 562 may generally be programmed to receive one or more mediainput items from one or more media devices 216. Processor 562 may, forexample, generate an aggregated media item. The aggregated media itemmay include, for example a picture-in-picture (PIP) display, wherein twoor more of the media input items are displayed at the same time (e.g.,side by side). The media studio 212 may transmit the aggregated mediaitem via the network 214 to the operator console 218. Processor 562 maybe further programmed to receive commands from the operator console 218.Based on the commands, the media studio 212 may generate a media outputitem. The processor 562 may select data from one or more of the mediainput items to include in the media output item. In addition, the mediastudio 212 may perform media processing operations based onpredetermined rules for generating the media output item.

Referring back to previous figures, processor 562 may output the mediaoutput item to viewers 222, to the operator console 218, and/or to otherdisplay devices. Additionally or alternatively, the media studio 212 mayoutput the media output item to a server 228, or to storage devices 223,where the media output item may be stored for future use.

FIG. 6 illustrates a block and flow diagram 670 showing communicationbetween media devices and an operator console via a media studio,according to embodiments of the present technology. As noted, a mediaprocessing system may include media devices (such as media devices 616),an operator console (such as operator console 618), and a media studio(such as media studio 612). More specifically, the media studio 612 mayreceive data and inputs from a variety of different sources, and usethat data and inputs to produce an output for display. For example, themedia studio 612 can receive multiple media input items simultaneouslyor substantially simultaneously, for example from media devices 616, andcan combine them into an aggregated media item for viewing via theoperator console 618. Furthermore, for example, the media studio 612 canbe controlled by, and receive media input data from, an operator console618, which may be remote from the media studio 612. The media studio 612further can receive commands from the operator console 618, and cangenerate a media output item according to the received commands. Forexample, a user of the operator console 618 may select, via a userinterface, one of the four views in the aggregated media item to beincluded in the media output item. Based on a command received from theoperator console 618, the media studio 612 may generate the media outputitem that includes the selected media input item. In addition tocommands related to selecting media input items for display in the mediaoutput item, commands from the operator console 618 may includeinstructions to perform operations such as scaling, mixing, morphing,compositing, adding overlays, etc. Further, commands from the operatorconsole 618 may include instructions to perform operations such asobject tracking, image stabilization, etc.

Operator console 618 may include a graphical user interface. Thegraphical user interface in operator console 618 includes six tiles orother items 691-96. When media studio 612 receives one or more mediainput items, the items may be displayed on operator console 618 in tiles691-694. For example, a first media input item may be displayed on tile691, a second media input item may be displayed on tile 692, a thirdmedia input item may be displayed on tile 693, and a fourth media inputitem may be displayed on tile 694. Media devices 616 may include four(or more or less) of the same device and may capture video or othermedia of an environment from different angles, or may be differentdevices that capture different types of media. In either instance, mediainput items captured from a media device 616 may be displayed onoperator console 618. When fewer than four media devices 616 areconnected to media studio 612, and therefore fewer than four media inputitems are received by media studio 612, one or more of tiles 691-694 maynot display a media input item, and instead may be blank or otherwiseindicate that no media input item has been received to be displayed onthat tile.

Tiles 695 and 696 may be used for other purposes associated withoperator console 618. For example, a user of the operator console 618may select, via the graphical user interface, one of the four views inthe aggregated media item to be included in the media output item (e.g.,at tiles 691-694). When a user selects one of the four views, the mediainput item selected by the user may appear in, for example, tile 696.For example, tile 696 may be used by the user to manipulate the mediainput item before it is finalized as an media output item. The mediaoutput item may be broadcasted or streamed over the internet orotherwise shared. The media output item, once finalized, may bedisplayed in tile 695. Even though certain tiles within operator console618 have been described, they are examples only. The tiles may beinterchangeable, moveable, or used for different purposes as may beprovided for by the software application being used by operator console618 to present the tiles on the graphical user interface.

FIG. 7 illustrates an environment 700 including an operator console 718and an entertainment venue 702, according to embodiments of the presenttechnology. As noted, the media processing system may process multiplemedia input items. For example, a media studio can receive multiplemedia input items simultaneously or substantially simultaneously, andcan combine them into an aggregated media item for viewing via theoperator console 718. The multiple media input items may be used togenerate an output or final video stream, video segment, or othercontent item that includes portions of the multiple media input items.The media processing system, including the media studio, operatorconsole and media devices, can assist a user in generating such a video(or other) content item.

Even if a content item is described herein as being a “video” contentitem or as containing video, content items described herein may includeother types of data, and in some embodiments may not include videocontent at all. Furthermore, even if a process, action, or step isdescribed as being performed by an operator console (e.g., operatorconsole 718), the process, action, or step may also be performed by amedia studio/hub as described herein. For example, if the operatorconsole 718 is described as being communicatively or otherwise“connected” to a media device or another device, they may be connectedthrough the media studio or may be connected directly.

The media processing system, via the operator console 718 (or mediastudio in communication with the operator console), may automaticallyand dynamically determine different characteristics of the user's videocontent item. For example, the media processing system may, uponstart-up of the operator console 718 and/or the software application onthe operator console 718, determine a purpose of the user video contentitem before the video content item has been generated, or even beforevideo streams or other data have been collected to be used as part ofthe final video content item product. While the purpose may be selectedby a user (e.g., from a drop-down menu on the application),automatically determining a purpose may require less work from the userto ultimately generate the content item. Examples of a “purpose” of auser content item may include for the content item (and/or the user) tobecome popular, making people laugh, capturing and communicating majorpersonal experiences, making their own short films, among others. Thesemore general purposes may also be narrowed even further. For example,the purpose of “making people laugh” may be further and morespecifically defined as silly, witty, and/or slapstick.

A variety of different kinds of data may be collected to help make adetermination of purpose, including audio/verbal input from the user orother people near the operator console or other media devices (e.g.,speak into mic, capture from actions associated with preparing thecontent item, etc.), location or situation of the media processingsystem, among others. Data associated with other events occurring in thearea of the location of the media processing system may be used, andthat data may be collected using sensors from the media processingsystem or data available on the Internet (e.g., social media). Forexample, operator console 718 may include a video camera 719, amicrophone 717, a temperature sensor, a gyroscope, or other data sensorsor data collectors. These data sensors and data collectors may collect avariety of different types of data associated with objects or events inthe environment. For example, the video camera 719 or microphone 717 maycollect data (e.g., video, audio, etc.) associated with an event takingplace on the entertainment venue 702, such as, for example, video ofhockey player 770, noises the hockey player 770 makes, or other data. Inanother example, the video camera 719 or microphone 717 may collect dataassociated with fans 774 at the entertainment venue, including facial orother bodily reactions they make, noise (e.g., cheering) they make,among other types of data. In another example, the video camera 719 ormicrophone 717 may collect data associated with scoreboard 750,including alphanumeric characters on the scoreboard, noise coming fromthe scoreboard, among other types of data. In another example, the videocamera 719 or microphone 717 may collect data associated with an eventworker 772 or the television the event worker is watching (e.g., theevent at the entertainment venue may be on the TV, other events orinformation associated with the event or entertainment venue may be onthe TV, etc.), among other data. The purpose may be determined byanalyzing the variety of different types of data collected from theenvironment, and using the data and analysis to determine a likelypurpose or a set of potential purposes. This analysis may includedetermining characteristics of the environment, assigning weights orprobabilities to each characteristic depending on the system's perceivedvalue or strength for determining the actual purpose of the user contentitem.

The purpose or purposes may be automatically determined based on otherfactors as well, including saved historical data associated with theuser, the location, or other characteristics associated with the currentuser content item. For example, after a purpose has been selected by auser to confirm which purpose is correct, the prediction from the mediaprocessing system, and any factors or weights used to determine theprediction, may be tagged or associated with the correct purpose so asto inform the media processing system in future decisions, making futuredecisions more accurate.

A set of potential purposes may then be sent to the user for the user toselect the correct purpose. For example, the operator console 718 mayoutput the set of potential purposes in a list or other form on adisplay associated with the operator console 718 for the user to viewand select from.

The media processing system, via the media studio operator console 718,may automatically and dynamically determine other characteristics of theuser's video content item, either using the purpose or otherwise. Forexample, the media processing system may make determinations about theuser content item and the user's intent in order to executepre-production or pre-processing steps to setup the environment and themedia processing system devices for shooting. The media processingsystem may determine crew, actors, or characters for the user videocontent item before the video content item has been generated, or evenbefore video streams or other data have been collected to be used aspart of the final video content item product. For example, the mediaprocessing system may identify people in the environment that it may bea part of the user video content using a variety of differenttechniques. In one embodiment, the media processing system may use thedetermined purpose, along with data collected from the environment, todetermine which people are in the environment. For example, if the mediaprocessing system determined that the purpose of the video was to createa hockey player recruiting video, it may recognize hockey player 770 anddetermine that hockey player 770 is a character in the user content itemsince hockey player 770 is a hockey player and is associated with (e.g.,friends with on social media, went to school together, etc.) the user ofoperator console 718, or of the whole media processing system. Inanother example, the media studio (e.g., via operator console 718 orother media devices) may identify person 772 by detecting that person772 is holding a mobile device that may be used as a camera in the mediaprocessing system. Person 772 may already be present for the purpose ofshooting the user content item, or may be a stranger that the mediaprocessing system recruits to join the media processing system.

The purpose, or other data, may also be used to determinecharacteristics of the final user content item (e.g., video) and/or howa consumer consumes the user content item. For example, the purposeand/or other data may be used to determine, by the operator console,media studio, or other device, one or more consumption characteristicsof the content item. A consumption characteristic, for example, may be acharacteristic associated with consumption of the user video by aconsumer. For example, consumption characteristics may include a changein audio, text, brightness, length, FPS, speed, vertical/horizontal,etc. More specifically, the purpose may be used to determine whether thecontent item is better consumed vertically or horizontally on a mobiledevice (or, if either is fine, it may determine that both versions mayneed to be generated).

The data collected by the operator console 718 and any other mediadevices may be used to match people and/or their devices with thepurpose and other characteristics of the user content item. For example,data associated with a detected person or device may include theirrelationship with the media processing system user, characteristics ofthe person, abilities of the person, proximity of the person to the user(e.g., using photo scan, audio recognition, wireless device detection,etc.), quality and/or rating of other content items that the person hasbeen involved with (e.g., identified by saved historical data associatedwith other content items the user has produced), the type of device orcamera they have, etc. Roles proposed by the operator console 718 may bepresented to the user to confirm or edit the roles, and the roles mayalso be transmitted to each of the detected people and/or devices todetermine if they want to or can participate. The operator console 718and/or other media devices may also collect data regarding potentialobjects that could be used as props in the user content item, and thatdata may be analyzed to determine which objects may work best with thedetermined or received purpose of the user content item. After a personor object has been detected, data may be collected about each person orobject. For example, a person may be identified as a person whoparticipated in a past video associated with the user, or videos may beidentified as videos that that person “likes” (e.g., via social media)or generated themselves.

The media processing system, via the media studio or the operatorconsole 718, may automatically and dynamically determine othercharacteristics of the user's video content item. For example, the mediaprocessing system may determine recommended locations in which data(e.g., video streams) can be captured for the content item to begenerated. Various factors could contribute to a determined location,including geographic location and proximity to different types ofenvironments, the user and the user's tastes (e.g., identified by savedhistorical data), etc. Over time, information associated with eachlocation may be dynamically updated based upon content items the userhas produced in each location. Using data associated with a location,scenes from a screenplay or frames from a storyboard may be assigned tospecific sub-locations within a location (e.g., a room in a house).Furthermore, cameras, props and/or people may be assigned based oninformation associated with the location gathered over time as well.

The media processing system, via the media studio or the operatorconsole 718, may automatically and dynamically determine othercharacteristics of the user's video content item. For example, the mediaprocessing system may determine recommended duration and/or dates andtimes in which data (e.g., video streams) can be captured for thecontent item to be generated. The media studio and/or the operatorconsole, or other devices in the media processing system, may determinethe duration or timing based on what information it knows about thedemands of the content item, or individual scenes of a video contentitem. The system may make more general recommendations based on the datait has collected, including, for example, weather such as rain (e.g.,delay scene), time of day (light, type of light, etc.), time of year(temperature, amount of daylight, etc.), among others. In anotherembodiment, the system may make recommendations about the environment orto specific devices based on the availability or bandwidth available ona network that the system's devices communicate over. For example, ifthe network has insufficient bandwidth, the system may instruct thedevices (or a subset of the devices) to delay transmitting the data(e.g., video stream) they collected in order to ensure it reaches themedia studio (and the operator console), or to ensure it reaches themedia studio (and the operator console) in a synchronized fashion.

After a set or list of people (possibly designated as a character, crewmember, or actor, for example), a set or list of objects, orrecommendations of other characteristics associated with the contentitem have been determined, these lists may be transmitted to the user ofthe media processing system for viewing or for selection of which peopleand objects the user would like to use in the user content item. Thelists may be, for example, displayed by the operator console 718 on adisplay associated with (e.g., part of or communicatively connected to)the operator console 718. Data associated with each person and/or objectmay also be presented to the user, such as other content itemsassociated with the person or object, characteristics about the personor object, preferences of the person, etc. The presented and/or selectedcharacters and props may be determined using one or more screenplaysand/or storyboards as discussed further with respect to FIG. 11.

Although herein the user video content item may be described as beinggenerated by the operator console, or that data used to generate theuser video content item may be analyzed by the operator console, itshould be understood that other devices (e.g., other media devices)within the media processing system may perform these actions, forexample using data (e.g., video streams) received or collected by theoperator console. In certain embodiments, a separate operator consoledevice may be excluded from the system since one or more other devicesin the media processing system may perform the functions of the operatorconsole.

FIG. 8 illustrates a set of media devices 816 communicating with eachother in an environment 800, according to embodiments of the presenttechnology. For example, media devices 816 may include video cameras,mobile devices (e.g., mobile smart phones, mobile tablets, etc.),Bluetooth headsets, IoT devices, security system devices, set-top boxes,among others. The media processing system may identify which mediadevices, such as which video cameras, are available to be used with themedia processing system. In one example, a user may input which devicesare available. The user may connect each available device to the mediaprocessing system using a local network or other protocols. As discussedfurther herein, cameras may also be detected by the media studio,operator console, or other devices in the media processing system.Certain devices may then be selected to perform certain actions based oncertain factors, including the functionality of the devices themselves,the quality of the camera/lens, the purpose of the content item,duration of the content item, historical data associated with thefunctionality and/or success of the device, among others.

The environment may also include an operator console 818, which may alsobe a media device 816, as described herein. Operator console 818 may beindistinguishable from a media device 816 except that operator console818 is configured to control a media studio in the environment. Operatorconsole 818 may execute a client software application that includes auser interface for requesting content from the media studio, or directlyfrom other media devices 816, and for viewing that content. Operatorconsole 818 may, directly or via the media studio, also request contentfrom devices other than media devices, such as from data collectors, asdescribed herein. Data collectors may also be built into the operatorconsole 818, such as a microphone or other sensor, or may be built intoany of the other media devices 816.

Even though operator console 818 may collect data on its own, such asvia its own built-in sensors, operator console 818 may benefit fromcollecting data from other sources. For example, operator console 818may collect streams of video data from multiple sources and combine theminto the software application for a user to view, and select forpresenting. However, operator console 818, and its executed softwareapplication, may operate on their own without additional media devicesor data collectors communicatively connected to it. In other words, allof the multiple media devices 816 shown in FIG. 8 may not be connectedto operator console 818 immediately upon start-up of the softwareapplication. Instead, operator console 818 may detect those otherdevices and connect to them in order to collect data, such as videostreams, from them. The operator console 818 may also, either directlyor via the media studio, contact people associated with the detecteddevices to determine if they would be interested in participating ingenerating the user content item, such as by generating a video streamto be sent to the operator console 818. In another embodiment, mediadevice 816 that are already associated with the user or operator console818 may already be communicatively connected to the operator console 818or other media devices 816 in the network of devices, and thereforethose devices may already be known to be participating in the datacollection and/or generation of the user content item.

FIG. 9 illustrates an environment 900 including an entertainment venue902, an operator console 918, and media devices 916 capturing data fromthe environment 900 as part of a media processing system, according toembodiments of the present technology. Media devices 916 may capturedata, such as video content, associated with an environment fromdifferent angles or perspectives in order to capture a scene in multipledifferent ways, even though the devices are present in the sameenvironment. Specifics about how each device is used, including itsexact or approximate location, the direction it faces, the angle itfaces, among other specifics may be chosen or automatically determinedbased on the purpose of the user content item, the environment, datacollected about the environment, among other factors. For example, usingdata collected and associated with the environment 900, including dataassociated with the entertainment venue, people in the environment,objects in the environment, media devices in the environment, amongother information, the media processing system may determine locationsfor each media device 916 to be placed.

The media devices 916 may be predetermined media devices associated withthe user and the operator console so that the user may place the mediadevices 916 at locations in the environment based on the user'spreferences and/or data collected about the environment. In anotherembodiment, if one or more media devices 916 are not previouslyassociated with the user, then the operator console may communicate(e.g., transmit and receive communications via the media studio) withthose media devices (e.g., via the media studio) to communicate withusers of the media devices or to send commands to the media devices totake actions (e.g., begin recording video, capture an image, etc.) ifthe user of the media device has previously agreed that the media devicecan participate in data collection. Each media device, and each videostream or other data captured by each media device, may be controlled bythe operator console 918. As shown in FIG. 9, each media device maycapture data associated with a specific location (e.g., a specificportion of the ice of the hockey rink) or may capture data associatedwith different locations or aspects (e.g., audio, events, etc.) of theenvironment.

After data has been collected about a general or specific location, thatdata may be associated with that location (e.g., using tagging orgrouping), and stored for future use. For example, a profile associatedwith a location may be generated, and the data associated with thatlocation may be stored or somehow associated with that location profile.Therefore, if the user decides to generate a future content item in thatsame or a similar location, the profile for that location may beaccessed, and the data from previous shoots or content items from thatlocation may be used for future content items. The location profiles anddata associated with the profiles may be dynamically updated over timeso that the system becomes smarter and smarter over time, and can makemore accurate decisions using more data analytics for future decisionsand for the generation of future content items. This process of storinghistorical data, dynamically updating this historical data, and usingthat data later to improve future shoots and content items may beapplied to any of the environment, content item, or user characteristicsor preferences described herein.

Either after or simultaneous with capturing data, media devices 916 maytransmit data to the operator console 918 (directly or via the mediastudio), for example via a media studio 912, to be viewed on theoperator console 918, for example as described further with respect toFIG. 10. As noted, the data, such as video streams, may be presented tothe user via the operator console, and may be selected and/ormanipulated by the user at a display associated with the operatorconsole.

FIG. 10 illustrates screenshots of example video streams from mediadevices and a screenshot of a display or user interface 1042 associatedwith an operator console 1018, according to embodiments of the presenttechnology. As described with respect to FIG. 9, media devices 916 maycapture data, such as video content, associated with an environment fromdifferent angles or perspectives in order to capture a scene in multipledifferent ways, even though the devices are present in the sameenvironment. Furthermore, either after or simultaneous with capturingdata, media devices 916 may transmit data to the operator console 918,for example via a media studio 912, to be viewed on the operator console918. Tiles 1091 and 1092 show screenshots of video streams fromdifferent media devices, where the different media devices are capturingmedia input items (e.g., video content) of the same environment (e.g.,an event at a hockey rink) from different angles. For example,screenshot 1091 shows video content captured by media device/camera 916b and screenshot 1091 shows video content captured by mediadevice/mobile phone 916 a.

As further shown in FIG. 10, video content captured by media devices 916a and 916 b are transmitted by their respective devices to the operatorconsole 1018 (e.g., via a media studio), and are presented to the useron display 1042 of operator console 1018. When the media studio receivesone or more media input items, the items may be displayed on operatorconsole 1018 in tiles 1091-1094. For example, a first media input itemmay be displayed on tile 1091, a second media input item may bedisplayed on tile 1092, a third media input item may be displayed ontile 1093 (none at the displayed time, so “disconnected”), and a fourthmedia input item may be displayed on tile 1094 (none at the displayedtime, so “disconnected”). When fewer than four media devices areconnected to the media studio, and therefore fewer than four media inputitems are received by the media studio, one or more of tiles 1091-1094may not display a media input item, and instead may be blank orotherwise indicate that no media input item has been received to bedisplayed on that tile, as shown with tiles 1093 and 1094 in FIG. 10.Tiles 1095 and 1096 may be used for other purposes associated withoperator console 1018. For example, a user of the operator console 1018may select, via the graphical user interface, one of the four views inthe aggregated media item to be included in the media output item (e.g.,at tiles 1091-1094). When a user selects one of the four views, themedia input item selected by the user may appear in, for example, tile1096. The media output item, once finalized, may be displayed in tile1095. The tiles may be interchangeable, moveable, or used for differentpurposes as may be provided for by the software application being usedby operator console 1018 to present the tiles on the graphical userinterface.

FIG. 11 illustrates a transition of screenshots from an operator consoleof the media processing system, according to embodiments of the presenttechnology. As described herein, the data collected by the operatorconsole and any other media devices may be used to match people and/ortheir devices with the purpose and other characteristics of the usercontent item. For example, as shown in screenshot 1170, the mediaprocessing system may use the collected data to generate a list ofpossible screenplays for the user to choose from. For example, for aspecific combination of purpose, duration, and variation, a screenplayis suggested that consists of a list of scenes with characters,approximate setting, and an example dialogue for the characters, amongother possible features or characteristics.

In order to generate the list of recommended screenplays, the mediaprocessing system identified pieces of environment data/information thatwere collected as being associated with the environment, and morespecifically to the hockey event taking place in the environment. Forexample, the media processing system identified hockey players, thePepsi center venue, the Avalanche team, a time of 8:25 PM MT (which is,for example, when an average professional hockey game would be played),the season of winter (when the professional hockey season takes place),among others. These pieces of environment data could then be analyzed toidentify the recommended screenplays based on what screenplays might bemost relevant to the user, the environment the user is in, the purposeof the user's content item, among other factors. The screenplays may befull screenplays with suggested specific language, or may be more of atemplate with a looser structure.

Instead of or in addition to recommending one or more screenplays foruse by the user in generating the user content item, the system may usethe environment, user, and content item data to recommend a duration ofthe content item. The duration may be specific (e.g., an exact or nearexact amount of time), or it may be more general (e.g., presented in arange or in a group of times). The recommended durations may beassociated with one or more specific screenplays, or may be a separaterecommendation. Furthermore, the recommended duration may be used todetermine which screenplays should be recommended to the user for thatuser content item. For example, the database of screenplays may befiltered to only provide screenplays to choose from for therecommendation that fit the recommended duration. Alternatively, thedifferent factors may be ranked or weighted, determined by predetermineduser preference or by learning user preferences over time or determinedby the data associated with the environment and/or content item, so thatscreenplays of different durations may be available (e.g., if thecontent or other characteristic of the screenplay is more important tothe user for this content item). This system of weighting differentcharacteristics may also be used in order for the system to make adetermination about what purpose, people, props, locations, etc. may beused or recommended to the user for use. For example, the user may inputand update user preferences associated with weights. The weights may bespecific to certain characteristics, or may be specific to certain typesof content items.

The recommended screenplays may be chosen from a database of storedscreenplays, which may include both the user's previous screenplays andscreenplays produced by third parties. Each time a new screenplay isdeveloped, either from scratch or from changing a screenplay alreadydeveloped, the new screenplay can be added to the database ofscreenplays to be searched through later. The database may be storedlocally on one of the devices in the media processing system, or it canbe stored externally (e.g., in a cloud sever that can be accessed by themedia processing system. If provided/uploaded by users, metadata may beassigned to a screenplay based on content items that used it, how thescreenplay was used, which users used it, etc., and the metadata canhelp future users more accurately determine how useful the screenplaymight be for their content item. In other words, the screenplays may bedynamically crowd sourced and generated over time by users. Users mayalso rate the screenplays and record user “likes”, shares, etc. andadapt the best ones for use in database.

A user may select one or more of the screenplays to work from forgenerating the user content item. For example, in the embodiment shownin FIG. 11, the user has selected the “Flying Goal” screenplay, which isshown as being forty-five seconds long. After the user has selected thescreenplay, the application may present to the user one or morestoryboards associated with the screenplay. For example, a storyboardassociated with the selected “Flying Goal” screenplay is shown inscreenshot 1172. A story, such as one described in a screenplay, can beviewed, and executed, as a collection of storyboard images. Each frameof a scene may have an illustration that visualizes the frame. The framemay be different for each story purpose, variation, and scene purpose,so it may be specific to the user and the user's content item.Furthermore, each scene may be divided up into several segments, eachsegment having a different frame. As shown in screenshot 1172, framesmay be overlaid onto video camera frame to set up a scene for thecharacters. For example, the storyboard frame may designate the locationof media devices, the crew member for each media device, the type andlocation of props, among other information specific to the associatedscreenplay. Each screenplay may have two or more versions available(e.g., to shoot vertically or horizontally).

For each scene (e.g., for each storyboard or set of storyboards) theuser may direct a person, such as a character or actor, or a crew membercontrolling one of the other media devices, to a location where thatperson should stand or perform an action. While the user may directothers based on the user's own preferences, the user may also follow thedirections or commands on the storyboard itself. For example, screenshot1172 shows a storyboard with designated locations for certain people(e.g., Bob and Max) and their associated media devices. Certain mediadevice functionalities may allow for convenient strategies for the mediaprocessing system. For example, wide frame may be used so that the usercan later cut in editing and have a wide enough frame to do horizontaland vertical video. In another example, GPS may be used to provide exactlocations to people. Furthermore, an augmented reality overlay mayprovide for certain commands to assist the user in both capturing videocontent and in manipulating the collected video streams that will beused to generate the final content item. For example, the system maypresent a command or recommendation for the user to stop recording ordelay beginning of recording to allow a person to be in place at theirdesignated location. For example, the system (via the softwareapplication) may notify the user (e.g., via a display associated withthe operator console) when the person has reached their location, orsuggestions for how they should move to arrive at their location.Similar commands may be presented for other characteristics of thecontent item, such as props, lighting, etc.

In addition to assisting the user how to set up the environment forcapturing video content, the system may also automatically provide otheranalysis of the stream, the environment, and other features. Forexample, analysis may be provided on the display for focus/stability,lighting, and sound. For example, a rating (e.g., red, yellow and green,or a numerical rating) may be presented on the display for the user tosee and adjust accordingly. In a first example, a focus or stabilityanalysis and/or rating may be determined and presented to the user. Thisfeature may analyze the video or image captured, and indicate to theuser where the focus could improve (and, for example, how to improveit). This determination may be determined using the purpose of thecontent item or other data collected about the content item or theuser's preferences, current or historical. In a second example, a soundanalysis and/or rating may be determined and presented to the user. Forexample, the system may collect data associated with sounds around theoperator console, and determine whether the sounds are due to the soundthat the user has targeted and wants to capture, or whether the sound iswholly or partially due to unwanted noise. The system may indicatewhether there is too much noise beyond a predetermined acceptable level,or a level that it has determined based on the purpose and other dataassociated with the content item, and an indicator of how the user canfix it. For example, the system may recommend one or multiple optionsfor fixing the noise problem (e.g., the noise is due to a loud truckbeing present, so it may present a recommendation to wait until thetruck goes by). Furthermore, the system may have developed a knowledgeabout sounds over time, and may make an exception based on the purpose(e.g., a level of noise that would otherwise be too loud is not too loudbecause the environment is a concert or sporting event). In a thirdexample, a lighting analysis and/or rating may be determined andpresented to the user. The system may detect light at certain locations,and may analyze the light in other locations close to the presentlocation. Therefore, the system may recommend to the user that the usermove to a different location (or move slightly) to obtain betterlighting for capturing video content for this content item.

FIG. 12 illustrates a media processing system in an environment 1200including an operator console 1216 configured to determine a sweet spotof a user content item, according to embodiments of the presenttechnology. A “sweet spot” of a video content item may be defined as the“best” portion of a scene or video, such as a portion where there is aclimax, punch line, or other important event within the context of theentire scene or video. Since a sweet spot may include an importantportion of the content item, a user may want to focus on that portion,including generating a content item that only includes the sweet spot orthe sweet spot including a certain amount of time surrounding the sweetspot. In one example, a sweet spot of a hockey game event taking placein the venue 1202 may include the game winning goal in the third periodof the game, plus some time before the goal to show the play that led upto the goal and some time after the goal to show the celebration of theteam who scored the goal and their fans.

A sweet spot may be determined and captured in at least two ways:manually and automatically. A sweet spot may be automatically determinedif a user knows when a sweet spot is happening or will happen, and theuser can set a beginning time and an end time for the sweet spot to becaptured in a content item. A mechanism on a GUI of the operator console1216 will be shown and described further with respect to FIG. 13. Theuser may also press a button, either a physical button on the operatorconsole 1216 or a GUI button on a display of the operator console 1216,to initiate the capturing of the sweet spot. For example, the user maypress the button when the sweet spot is beginning and again when thesweet spot is ending. Alternatively, the sweet spot may be automaticallydetermined by the media processing system (e.g., by the media studio orby the operator console 1216). For example, the operator console 1216 orthe media studio may analyze a video stream or a stored video content todetermine a sweet spot in the video. For example, the system coulddetect “highs” or “lows” in the video based on sound, quick movements,abrupt changes, certain words said by characters (e.g., using voice oraudio recognition), among others.

In another example, a different sensor on the operator console 1216 (ora sensor on a different media device) may be used to detect a sweetspot. For example, a rear-facing camera 1221 (e.g., a “selfie” camera)may be used. For example, while the front-facing camera 1219 may becapturing video content of a scene, the rear-facing camera may also berecording video or capturing one or more images of the face of the user1278. The system may then analyze the video or images of the user todetermine if the user reacts to a certain portion of the scene, whichthe system may then designate as a sweet spot. The system may use facialrecognition, biometric sensor/recognition, or other techniques toidentify the emotion of the person shooting the scene to find a sweetspot. In order to identify whether such an expression or emotion may bea sweet spot, or to identify whether such an event is abnormal for thatparticular user, the system may use historical data over time, userinputs, user preferences, the purposes and other characteristics of theuser's content items, among others. Since the front-facing camera 1219may be simultaneously capturing video of the scene, such as a sceneinvolving hockey player 1270, the data captured from each video may becompared to determine when a sweet spot begins and ends. Other datacaptured from the environment may be used as well, including, forexample, the fans 1274 watching the hockey event in the entertainmentvenue 1202.

After a portion of a video content item has been identified as a sweetspot, that portion may be isolated by cutting around the sweet spot togenerate a new video including just the sweet spot. The system may alsoautomatically determine, based for example on the purpose of the contentitem, analysis of the substance of the content item, or other factors,whether a time period before and/or after the sweet spot should becaptured in the new video as well, and how much time. For example, thesystem may determine that since the purpose of the content item is, forexample, a hockey game, the video should include 30 seconds of videobefore the sweet spot to capture the lead-up to the goal, and 10 secondof video after the sweet spot to capture the celebration after the goal.Whether time before and/or after the sweet spot is included, and howmuch time both before and after, may be specifically determined for eachtype of purpose or other factors associated with the content item,environment, user, etc. The user may also input predeterminedpreferences regarding the sweet spot and amounts of time of videocaptured before and/or after the sweet spot. Also, the user may inputthese preferences on the fly by interacting with the GUI on the operatorconsole. The amounts of time may also be based on other factors, such asthe duration of the video.

FIG. 13 illustrates a screenshot of a display of an operator console ofthe media processing system, according to embodiments of the presenttechnology. As described with respect to FIG. 12, a different sensor onthe operator console 1316 (or a sensor on a different media device) maybe used to detect a sweet spot, such as a rear-facing camera. Also, asdescribed further herein with respect to FIG. 10, video content capturedby media devices may be transmitted by their respective devices to theoperator console 1318 (e.g., via a media studio), and are presented tothe user on display 1342 of operator console 1318. Tiles 1391 (also tile1395 where, for example, the content is being outputted for streaming)and 1392 (also tile 1396 where, for example, the content can bemanipulated) show screenshots of video streams from different mediadevices, where the different media devices are capturing media inputitems (e.g., video content) of the same environment (e.g., an event at ahockey rink) from different angles. Furthermore, tile 1393 show ascreenshot of a video stream or an image captured by the rear-facingcamera (e.g., rear-facing camera 1321) of a media device, which hascaptured the user and the user's reaction, including facial expressionsand emotions. Tile 1393 just says “disconnected” because no video streamor other content is being displayed since, for example, no additionalmedia device sensors are capturing content and transmitting that contentto the operator console 1318.

As noted with respect to FIG. 12, the user may interact with theoperator console in order to input preferences, indicate the beginningor end of a sweet spot, among other actions. An example GUI for thistype of interaction is shown in FIG. 13. For example, a dial or timedisplay 1389 may be used by a user to see where a video stream, forexample the video stream being broadcasted as shown in tile 1395, is inprogress, and/or to interact with and control the video stream. Forexample, the user may be able to press a finger on the time at which theuser believes a sweet spot has begun or finished. The user maymanipulate the video to see certain portions of it in order to make thatdetermination. Once the user has found the beginning or end of a sweetspot, or has indicated on a scroll-type mechanism on the GUI a timerange of the sweet spot, the user may indicate (e.g., via a physical orGUI tile-type button) that the sweet spot has been found, and to savethe sweet spot or generate a content item of the sweet spot, includingany before or after time extensions of the video, as described withrespect to FIG. 13. For example, dial 1389 may include indications 1380,1384, and 1388 of the beginning (1380) of a video content item, the end(1388) of a video content item, and the current location (1384), i.e.,the point in time of the video that is currently being displayed on atile, of the video. Furthermore, the dial 1389 may include indicators1382 and 1386 for the beginning (1382) and end (1386) of a sweet spot,which a user may manipulate, move, etc. The dial 1389 may also includeindicators (not shown) for the amount of time before and after the sweetspot that the user wants to include in the final content item, or suchindicators may indicate the automatically determined time periods beforeand after the sweet spot as determined by the system.

After a user content item has been generated, or at least once themultiple media input items have been generated and/or received, thecontent may be edited to generate the final user content item. Theediting may be completed after the content has been generated orreceived and stored, or it may be completed while the inputs arestreaming, such as by manipulation of the display of the operatorconsole by the user, or automatically by the media processing system.For example, the system may automatically cut, zoom, and/or frame avideo stream to fit the user's intent as known by data collected aboutthe user, the environment, the purpose, etc. A selected and usedscreenplay and/or storyboards may assist and guide the editing softwareto automatically edit the content. For example, the automatic cut, zoom,and/or frame of the content may be done to match the storyboardselected. Other manipulations may be executed, including automaticallyadding a supplemental text stream overlaid on top of the video contentthat conveys information about the content, such as the purpose of thevideo, characters or actors in the video, prop names, etc. In otherexamples, the software application may, using the storyboards,automatically cut, zoom, and frame the video to match the storyboard forone or both of horizontal and vertical versions of the movie. Text mayalso include direction to the user or other crew members via the displayof the operator console. In another example, the system mayautomatically select music to match the story purpose and/or scenepurpose, or using the screenplay/storyboards used for the content. Inanother example, the system may automatically generate additionalversions of a completed user content item, such as a smaller or largerversion, a version with a different perspective (e.g., landscape), amongothers.

After the content item has been completed, including editing, thecontent item may be distributed and consumed. The distribution may beautomatic after a content item is complete, such as automatic uploadingto a server for consumption over the Internet, or for streaming on awebsite. The trigger may include an action, such as, for example,closing of the camera or turning off the smartphone. Alternatively,distribution may be based on user preference/input or the situation ofthe content item, including environment, purpose, consumer device, etc.Other variables may also be used, including audio, text, brightness,length, FPS, speed/tempo, vertical/horizontal, etc. Information may beautomatically determined and displayed with the content item, such asdate and time that it was produced or distributed for the first time.

The vast amounts of data collected during the process of using the mediaprocessing system to generate a user content item allows for the systembecoming smarter and smarter over time. For example, filmmaker (i.e.,user) data may be collected and analyzed to determine futurerecommendations for that user, or for other users based on the contentof the content item (e.g., characters, props, locations, environment,etc.). Filmmaker/user feedback may also be generated and used, such associal media likes, comments, comments of other videos, etc. toautomatically determine characteristics of future content items. Thisdata may even be analyzed to automatically determine and present asuggested next video to be created by the user.

In another example, the system may collect filmmaker feedback and usemachine learning to determine user preferences, update profileaccordingly, and suggest another video to user based onfeedback/profile. More specifically, the system may collect data overtime related to a user, the user's videos, user's friends/contacts, etc.to generate user profile associated with user's video makingabilities/preferences. The system may collect data associated withcurrent video, including location, characters, audio, etc., and use thatdata to determine a purpose of the video and other characteristics ofthe video. The user profile may be updated based on data associated withcurrent video. The user profile data may also be compared with storedscreenplays and other video information/metadata to determine asuggestion for a possible next video that corresponds to the user'spreferences. The suggestion may be presented to the user on the displayof the operator console.

FIG. 14 includes a flow chart illustrating an example process associatedwith an augmented film crew, according to embodiments of the presenttechnology. Step 1402 includes, for example, receiving, at a display ofa user media device, an indication that a user of the user media deviceintends to generate a user video in an environment. Step 1404 includes,for example, receiving, at the display, an input indicating a userpreference associated with the user video. Step 1406 includes, forexample, generating, by the user media device, data associated with theenvironment using a sensor of the user media device. Step 1408 includes,for example, determining, by the user media device, a purpose for theuser video using the user preference and the data associated with theenvironment, wherein the purpose is chosen from a predetermined set ofpurposes. Step 1410 includes, for example, detecting an additional mediadevice that is located in the environment, wherein the additional mediadevice is associated with the user or the user media device. Step 1412includes, for example, determining pre-production assignments for theuser video using the purpose and the additional media device, whereinthe pre-production assignments indicate one or more characteristics ofthe scene for the user video in the environment. Step 1414 includes, forexample, generating, using the user media device, a first video streamof the scene in the environment using the pre-production assignments.Step 1416 includes, for example, receiving, from the additional mediadevice, a second video stream of the scene. Step 1418 includes, forexample, generating, by the user media device, the user video using thefirst video stream or the second video streams. One or more of thesesteps may be removed, and/or additional steps may be added.

FIG. 15 includes a flow chart illustrating an example process associatedwith an augmented film crew, according to embodiments of the presenttechnology. Step 1502 includes, for example, receiving, at a display ofa user media device, an indication that a user of the media deviceintends to generate a user video in an environment. Step 1504 includes,for example, generating, by the user media device, data associated withthe environment using a sensor of the user media device. Step 1506includes, for example, determining, by the user media device, a purposefor the user video using the data associated with the environment. Step1508 includes, for example, presenting, at the display, a set ofscreenplays for the user video, wherein the set of screenplays isdetermined based on the duration, the purpose, and the data associatedwith the environment. Step 1510 includes, for example, receiving, at thedisplay, an input from the user indicating a selected screenplay fromthe set of screenplays, wherein the selected screenplay is associatedwith a set of storyboards. Step 1512 includes, for example, displaying,at the user media device, a first storyboard of the set of storyboards,wherein the first storyboard is overlaid onto a user video streamgenerated by the user media device. Step 1514 includes, for example,receiving, at the user media device, an additional video streamgenerated by an additional network device. Step 1516 includes, forexample, generating, by the user media device, the user video using theuser video stream or the additional video stream.

FIG. 16 includes a flow chart illustrating an example process associatedwith an augmented film crew, according to embodiments of the presenttechnology. Step 1602 includes, for example, generating, by a user mediadevice, an environment video stream associated with a scene in anenvironment, wherein the environment video stream is generated using afirst sensor of the user media device. Step 1604 includes, for example,receiving, at the user media device, an additional video streamgenerated by an additional network device. Step 1606 includes, forexample, generating the user video using the environment video stream orthe additional video stream. Step 1608 includes, for example, generatinga user video stream, wherein the user video stream is generated using asecond sensor of the user media device. Step 1610 includes, for example,determining a sweet spot of the user video stream, wherein the sweetspot is a portion of the user video stream that indicates an importantevent in the scene based on a physical appearance, movement, or audiblesound of the user. Step 1612 includes, for example, identifying aportion of the user video associated with the sweet spot of the uservideo stream. Step 1614 includes, for example, generating an updateduser video using the environment video stream or the additional videostream, and the user video stream.

The methods, systems, and devices discussed above are examples. Variousconfigurations may omit, substitute, or add various procedures orcomponents as appropriate. For instance, in alternative configurations,the methods may be performed in an order different from that described,and/or various stages may be added, omitted, and/or combined. Also,features described with respect to certain configurations may becombined in various other configurations. Different aspects and elementsof the configurations may be combined in a similar manner. Also,technology evolves and, thus, many of the elements are examples and donot limit the scope of the disclosure or claims.

Specific details are given in the description to provide a thoroughunderstanding of exemplary configurations including implementations.However, configurations may be practiced without these specific details.For example, well-known circuits, processes, algorithms, structures, andtechniques have been shown without unnecessary detail in order to avoidobscuring the configurations. This description provides exampleconfigurations only, and does not limit the scope, applicability, orconfigurations of the claims. Rather, the preceding description of theconfigurations will provide those skilled in the art with an enablingdescription for implementing described techniques. Various changes maybe made in the function and arrangement of elements without departingfrom the spirit or scope of the disclosure.

Also, configurations may be described as a process which is depicted asa flow diagram or block diagram. Although each may describe theoperations as a sequential process, many of the operations can beperformed in parallel or concurrently. In addition, the order of theoperations may be rearranged. A process may have additional steps notincluded in the figure. Furthermore, examples of the methods may beimplemented by hardware, software, firmware, middleware, microcode,hardware description languages, or any combination thereof. Whenimplemented in software, firmware, middleware, or microcode, the programcode or code segments to perform the necessary tasks may be stored in anon-transitory computer-readable medium such as a storage medium.Processors may perform the described tasks.

Having described several example configurations, various modifications,alternative constructions, and equivalents may be used without departingfrom the spirit of the disclosure. For example, the above elements maybe components of a larger system, wherein other rules may takeprecedence over or otherwise modify the application of the technology.Also, a number of steps may be undertaken before, during, or after theabove elements are considered. Accordingly, the above description doesnot bind the scope of the claims.

As used herein and in the appended claims, the singular forms “a”, “an”,and “the” include plural references unless the context clearly dictatesotherwise. Thus, for example, reference to “a user” includes a pluralityof such users, and reference to “the processor” includes reference toone or more processors and equivalents thereof known to those skilled inthe art, and so forth.

Also, the words “comprise”, “comprising”, “contains”, “containing”,“include”, “including”, and “includes”, when used in this specificationand in the following claims, are intended to specify the presence ofstated features, integers, components, or steps, but they do notpreclude the presence or addition of one or more other features,integers, components, steps, acts, or groups.

The various embodiments described above can be combined to providefurther embodiments. All of the U.S. patents, U.S. patent applicationpublications, U.S. patent applications, foreign patents, foreign patentapplications and non-patent publications referred to in thisspecification and/or listed in the Application Data Sheet areincorporated herein by reference, in their entirety. Aspects of theembodiments can be modified, if necessary to employ concepts of thevarious patents, applications and publications to provide yet furtherembodiments.

These and other changes can be made to the embodiments in light of theabove-detailed description. In general, in the following claims, theterms used should not be construed to limit the claims to the specificembodiments disclosed in the specification and the claims, but should beconstrued to include all possible embodiments along with the full scopeof equivalents to which such claims are entitled. Accordingly, theclaims are not limited by the disclosure.

What is claimed is:
 1. A computer-implemented method, comprising:determining, by a user media device of a plurality of media devicesdisposed in an environment, a purpose for a user video chosen from apredetermined set of purposes in response to an indication that the usermedia device is being used to generate the user video in the environmentand that the environment includes at least one actor or characterdetermined to be recommended for the purpose; determining pre-productionassignments for the user video using the purpose, wherein thepre-production assignments indicate one or more characteristics of ascene for the user video in the environment and one or more actors orcharacters for the scene including the at least one actor or character;providing, by the user media device, an operator console by which toreceive and display a plurality of contemporaneous video streams thatare selectable to generate the scene for the user video in theenvironment; capturing a first video stream of the plurality ofcontemporaneous video streams by the user media device in theenvironment using the pre-production assignments, such that thecapturing includes the user media device determining presence of the oneor more actors or characters for the scene in the first video stream inaccordance with the purpose; receiving, by the user media device, asecond video stream of the plurality of contemporaneous video streamscaptured by an additional media device of the plurality of media devicesin the environment using the pre-production assignments, such that thereceiving includes the user media device determining presence of the oneor more actors or characters for the scene in the second video stream inaccordance with the purpose; generating, by the user media device, thescene of the user video in accordance with selecting at least one of thefirst video stream or the second video stream via the operator console.2. The method of claim 1, further comprising: determining a user profileassociated with the additional media device, wherein the user profileidentifies an additional person associated with the user; anddetermining the pre-production assignments for the user video using theuser profile.
 3. The method of claim 1, further comprising: determininga set of potential purposes from the predetermined set of purposes;displaying, by the user media device, the set of potential purposes; andreceiving a selected purpose of one of the set of potential purposes,wherein the selected purpose is the purpose of the user video.
 4. Themethod of claim 1, further comprising: receiving, at a microphone of theuser media device, an audible input; determining the purpose using atleast the audible input.
 5. The method of claim 1, wherein thepre-production assignments include one or more of a location of thescene, cameras to be used to capture video of the scene, locations ofthe cameras, crew members to control the cameras, actors for the uservideo, props to be used in the video, a date of the video, and a time ofthe video.
 6. The method of claim 1, wherein the pre-productionassignments include an identification of a user of the additional mediadevice, and a location of the user and the additional media device forcapturing the second video stream.
 7. The method of claim 1, furthercomprising: analyzing the user video to extract data associated with theuser video; assigning tags to the user video based on the data; andstoring the data and tags to be used in determining a purpose of afuture video generated by the user.
 8. The method of claim 1, furthercomprising: transmitting, by the user media device, a communication tothe additional media device, wherein the communication includes apre-production assignment of the pre-production assignments that isassociated with the additional media device.
 9. The method of claim 1,further comprising: generating, using the purpose, one or moreconsumption characteristics, where a consumption characteristic is acharacteristic associated with consumption of the user video by aconsumer; and generating the user video using the one or moreconsumption characteristics.
 10. A television receiver, comprising: oneor more processors; a wireless transceiver communicatively coupled tothe one or more processors; a non-transitory computer readable storagemedium communicatively coupled to the one or more processors, whereinthe non-transitory computer readable storage medium includesinstructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, causethe one or more processors to perform operations including: determining,by a user media device of a plurality of media devices disposed in anenvironment, a purpose for a user video chosen from a predetermined setof purposes in response to an indication that the user media device isbeing used to generate the user video in the environment and that theenvironment includes at least one actor or character determined to berecommended for the purpose; determining pre-production assignments forthe user video using the purpose, wherein the pre-production assignmentsindicate one or more characteristics of a scene for the user video inthe environment and one or more actors or characters for the sceneincluding the at least one actor or character; providing, by the usermedia device, an operator console by which to receive and display aplurality of contemporaneous video streams that are selectable togenerate the scene for the user video in the environment; capturing afirst video stream of the plurality of contemporaneous video streams bythe user media device in the environment using the pre-productionassignments, such that the capturing includes the user media devicedetermining presence of the one or more actors or characters for thescene in the first video stream in accordance with the purpose;receiving, by the user media device, a second video stream of theplurality of contemporaneous video streams captured by an additionalmedia device of the plurality of media devices in the environment usingthe pre-production assignments, such that the receiving includes theuser media device determining presence of the one or more actors orcharacters for the scene in the second video stream in accordance withthe purpose; generating, by the user media device, the scene of the uservideo in accordance with selecting at least one of the first videostream or the second video stream via the operator console.
 11. Thetelevision receiver of claim 10, wherein the instructions furthercomprise: determining a user profile associated with the additionalmedia device, wherein the user profile identifies an additional personassociated with the user; and determining the pre-production assignmentsfor the user video using the user profile.
 12. The television receiverof claim 10, wherein the instructions further comprise: determining aset of potential purposes from the predetermined set of purposes;displaying, by the user media device, the set of potential purposes; andreceiving a selected purpose of one of the set of potential purposes,wherein the selected purpose is the purpose of the user video.
 13. Thetelevision receiver of claim 10, wherein the instructions furthercomprise: receiving, at a microphone of the user media device, anaudible input; determining the purpose using at least the audible input.14. The television receiver of claim 10, wherein the pre-productionassignments include one or more of a location of the scene, cameras tobe used to capture video of the scene, locations of the cameras, crewmembers to control the cameras, actors for the user video, props to beused in the video, a date of the video, and a time of the video.
 15. Thetelevision receiver of claim 10, wherein the pre-production assignmentsinclude an identification of a user of the additional media device, anda location of the user and the additional media device for capturing thesecond video stream.
 16. The television receiver of claim 10, whereinthe instructions further comprise: analyzing the user video to extractdata associated with the user video; assigning tags to the user videobased on the data; and storing the data and tags to be used indetermining a purpose of a future video generated by the user.
 17. Thetelevision receiver of claim 10, wherein the instructions furthercomprise: transmitting, by the user media device, a communication to theadditional media device, wherein the communication includes apre-production assignment of the pre-production assignments that isassociated with the additional media device.
 18. The television receiverof claim 10, wherein the instructions further comprise: generating,using the purpose, one or more consumption characteristics, where aconsumption characteristic is a characteristic associated withconsumption of the user video by a consumer; and generating the uservideo using the one or more consumption characteristics.
 19. A computingdevice, comprising: one or more processors; and a memory havinginstructions stored thereon, which when executed by the one or moreprocessors, cause the computing device to perform operations including:determining, by a user media device of a plurality of media devicesdisposed in an environment, a purpose for a user video chosen from apredetermined set of purposes in response to an indication that the usermedia device is being used to generate the user video in the environmentand that the environment includes at least one actor or characterdetermined to be recommended for the purpose; determining pre-productionassignments for the user video using the purpose, wherein thepre-production assignments indicate one or more characteristics of ascene for the user video in the environment and one or more actors orcharacters for the scene including the at least one actor or character;providing, by the user media device, an operator console by which toreceive and display a plurality of contemporaneous video streams thatare selectable to generate the scene for the user video in theenvironment; capturing a first video stream of the plurality ofcontemporaneous video streams by the user media device in theenvironment using the pre-production assignments, such that thecapturing includes the user media device determining presence of the oneor more actors or characters for the scene in the first video stream inaccordance with the purpose; receiving, by the user media device, asecond video stream of the plurality of contemporaneous video streamscaptured by an additional media device of the plurality of media devicesin the environment using the pre-production assignments, such that thereceiving includes the user media device determining presence of the oneor more actors or characters for the scene in the second video stream inaccordance with the purpose; generating, by the user media device, thescene of the user video in accordance with selecting at least one of thefirst video stream or the second video stream via the operator console.20. The computing device of claim 19, wherein the instructions furthercomprise: determining a user profile associated with the additionalmedia device, wherein the user profile identifies an additional personassociated with the user; and determining the pre-production assignmentsfor the user video using the user profile.